Protective cape



May 23, 1961 l. R. PARCO 2,984,840

PROTECTIVE CAPE Filed March 5, 1959 IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent Qfice Patented May 23, 1961 PROTECTIVE CAPE Idolo R. Parco, Los Angeles, Calif. (12006 Roscoe Blvd., North Hollywood, Calif.)

Filed Mar. 5, 1959, Ser. No. 797,503

2 Claims. (Cl. 2-50) The invention relates to a protective cape for use by cosmeticians, barbers or the like. The invention, more specifically, consists in providing a sanitary protective cape of unitary construction to be worn by a patron of a cosmetician which, when draped over the shoulders and secured around the neck, may be arranged so as to form front and back pockets with protective side walls joining the two pockets to receive hair cuttings and other falling particles, or liquids, which would otherwise drop to the floor, the chair, or on to the patron while the patron is receiving a hair cut or hair and scalp treatments.

The general object of the present invention is to provide such a protective cape which the constructional elements thereof conforming to a certain pattern, so arranged that the clothing of a patron is protected by side walls and front and back pockets or receptacles formed by securing together the front and back marginal edges of the cape, which pockets are adapted to receive the hair clippings, other particles or liquids resulting from the hair cutting or hair treating operation, yet is extremely comfortable when worn, providing for freedom of movement of the patron in a comfortable, natural manner, leaving the arms free, without disturbing the protective cape or interfering with the cosmeticians operations.

Another object of the invention is to provide a protective cape which protects the floor and chair from hair clippings, particles or liquid, and which has hair-receiving pockets which are easy to empty, either while the cape is being Worn by the patron or after the cape is taken off the patron, without contaminating the clothing of the patron.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a protective cape of the character described which is light in Weight, easy to put on and adjust to the patron, and has improved means for securing the cape to the patron so that the neckband thereof may be readily adjusted to fit around the patrons neck, the cape may be quickly secured over the shoulders of the patron by means of a slide fastener and the front and back panels thereof may be quickly and easily formed into front and rear hairreceiving pockets.

A further object of the invention is the provision of hair-receiving pockets of novel and inexpensive construction, configuration and component elements, which are impenetrable to falling hair, particles and liquids resulting from barbering or cosmetic operations on the hair.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a protective cape which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture, is strong and durable and is of neat and unitary construction.

A further object of the invention is to provide a construction which will serve to direct hair clippings, particles or liquids resulting from hair-treating or hair-cutting operations into the front or rear pockets and which enables each of the hair-receiving pockets to keep the particles or liquids from dropping onto the clothing of the patron, the chair and the floor, and doing away with the necessity of brushing oif the clothes of the patron and constant sweeping of the floor, thus maintaining a sanitary condition in the cosmeticians establishment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel. protective cape construction comprising a unitary cape- Which will fit persons of any size, which is capable of being folded into a small space when not in use and which possesses a high degree of efiiciency and utility.

It has been common practice for a barber or cosmetician to drape a cloth over the shoulders and clothing of a patron during the hair-cutting or hair-treating operation to protect the clothing and parts of the body, but this practice is unsatisfactory as the activities of the cosmetician result in hair, falling particles or liquids dropping onto the cloth, and from there to a certain extent to the chair and to the floor. Hair cuttings and particles which remain on the cloth are shaken off when the cloth is removed and also drop to the chair or the. floor and often are transferred to the clothing of the patron. Not only is this unsanitary, but the patron must be brushed oif and labor and expense is entailed in brushing 01f the chair and in sweeping the floor of the establishment at frequent intervals to attempt to keep the establishment in a sanitary condition.

Applicant is aware that it has been suggested in the prior art that hair collectors be provided. The efforts of the prior constructions, however, have been unsuccessful for if the structures do, to a certain extent catch the hair cuttings, such structures are impractical in use, expensive to manufacture, uncomfortable to wear, unsanitary, restrict the movement of the wearer and are difficult to store. Other proposed structures of the prior art neither efiectively protect the clothing nor catch hair cuttings, dropping particles or liquids resulting from the hair-cutting or hair-treating operation.

In the accompanying drawings, I have illustrated, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, a specific embodiment of my invention. In such drawings, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the protective cape when Worn by a patron, as viewed from the front of the patron; Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the protective cape when worn by a patron, as viewed from the rear of the patron; Fig. 3 is a section taken through the protective cape along the lines 3-3 of Fig. l as viewed from the direction of the arrows, with the dotted lines showing the pocket; and Fig. 4 is a view in plan of the protective cape as viewed from the top side thereof.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, in which similar reference characters identify similar parts in the several views, as illustrated most clearly in Fig. 4, 10 designates a wide unitary panel which has a centrally disposed neck band 11 defining a neck opening, a slot 12 on one side of said panel 10 extending outwardly through one side of said panel 10, the sides of the slot 12 having hookless fastener elements 13 attached to the sides of the slot 12. The panel 10 has a curved or arcuate side edge 14, opposite the sides which are intersected by the slot 12, an angled side edge 15 for the portion of the side edge below the slot 12, an angled side edge 16 for the portion of the side edge above the slot 12, a straight laterally extending top edge 17 and a straight laterally extending bottom edge 18, which top and bottom edges, 17 and 18, are parallel and coextensive. The various edges, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 of the panel 10 are formed by folding over the margins of the flexible material of the panel 10 to the underside thereof and stitching the same to provide a hem 19 for the curved side edge 14, a hem 20 for the angled side edge 15, a hem 21 for the angled side edge 16, a hem 22 for the the upper side of the panel 10, from which the pockets are to be formed, as will be described below, always present a smooth surface uniterrupted by any folds of material, which'might otherwise collect hair clippings or particles, so that a smooth surface is provided for the hair cuttings and particles to slide downward under the influence of gravityinto the hair-receiving pockets.

Adjacent the top edge 17 of the cape are cooperating, complementary, male and female snap fastener elements 24, aflixed to the cape in conventional manner, adapted to register and interengage so that when the respective side portions of the top edge 17 are overlapped and connected together by the fastener elcments24 a substantially conoidal or spherical triangular form is assumed in the shape of the first pocket 25, as shown in Fig. 2, adapted to overlay the back of the wearer, the apex of said cone or spherical triangle being at the lower extremity of said pocket 25. Adjacent the bottom edge 18 of the cape are similar cooperating, complementary, male and female snap fastener elements 26, affixed to the cape in conventional manner, adapted to register and interengage so that when the respective side portions of the bottom edge 18 are overlapped and connected together by the interengaging fastener elements 26, a substantially conoidal or spherical triangle form is assumed in the shape of a second pocket 27, as shown in Fig. 1, adapted to overlay the chest of the wearer. As will be seen in Figs. 1 and 2, the first pocket 25 and the second pocket 27 are of substantially the same configuration and are formed from the panel in substantially the same manner. The side edges of the cape 14, and 16 (when the hookless fastener elements 13 attached to the sides of the slot 12 are fastened together in conventional manner) and the pockets and 27 are formed, as explained above by interconnecting the respective fastener elements 24 and 26, form Walls 28 and 29 connecting the pockets 25 and 27 and pass over the shoulders of the patron permitting free movement of the arms of the patron and said walls 28 and 29 serve to direct hair clippings, particles and liquid downward into the respective pockets 25 and 27. As shown inost clearly in Figs. 1 and 2, the one-piece protective cape extends outwardly from around the neck of the patron and presents a rear pocket 25 (see Fig. 2) and a front hair-receiving receptacle or pocket 27 (see Fig. l) 'fo'r receiving the material falling during thecosmeticians operation. i l

As seen in Fig. 4, the panel 10, being of unitary construction, may be kept in a substantially flat position. If desired, the protective cape may be kept in a folded condition, which takes up only a very small space.

When a hair-cutting or hair-treating operation is to be 7 carried on, the patron take a seat upon a chair. The protective cape is then passed around the patrons shoulders and the mating sides of the slot 12, which in the embodiment shown rests on the left shoulder of the patron, are connected together by cooperating slide fastener elements13in conventional manner. A sanitary disposable neck band (not shown) may be placed around the patrons neck in conventional manner, if desired. The neck band 11 is then positioned around the neck of the patron and the flap 3%} of the end portion'of the neck band 11 is then snapped into position in the appropriate place around the neck of the patron by means of the cooperat ing fasteners 31. Instead of snap fastener elements 31, I may use cooperating slide fastener elements (not illustrated) on the neck band 11 by placing one element'of th eslide fastener on the flap 30 to cooperatewith a sliding membersecured around 'the neck band 11. It will be apparent (although not illustrated) that at this point the panel 10 will drape over the shoulders of the patron and on one side covers the chest of the wearer and on the other side overlays the backof the wearer, the slot 12 defining two panels or sections depending from the neck opening. To form the front pocket 27, the cosmetician merely overlaps the bottom edge 18 of the panel 10 and joins together the cooperating snap fastener elements 26 on said bottom edge 18; and to form the rear pocket 25, the cosmetician merelybve'rlaps the top edge 17 of the panel 10 and joins together the cooperating snap fastener elements 24 on said top edge 17.

During the hair-cutting or hair-treating operation, the hair clippings and other'material (including liquids, if used) fall either directly into the pockets 25 and 27 or fall upon the interior of the upstanding walls 28 and 29 of the panel 10 and are directed from there into the pockets 25 and 27.

When the hair-treating or hair-cutting operation is completed, the pockets 25 and 27 may be discharged into a suitable waste'container while the cape is still on the patron by unsnapping the lower snaps of the respective pockets 25 and 27, which allows the material caught by said pockets to fall into the waste container. Or,- if desired, the flap 30 on the neck band 11 may be unsnapped, the cooperating slide fastener 13 disengaged onfunzipped, and the entire protective cape removed, with the pockets 25 and 27 substantially retaining their configuration. The patron is then free to pass out of the chair and the material caught by said pockets may be later removed from the respectivepockets 25 and 27 by unsnapping the respective snap fastener elements 24 and 26 and directing the hair clippings and other material or liquids into a suitable waste container.

The panel 19 is made'of a flexible material which is stiff enough to maintain its shape when the pockets 25 and 27 are formed. I have found that nylon taffeta fabric of'70 Denier to 200 Denier is a suitable material. Other materials, such as, for example, fabric or plastic of suflicient flexibility, stiffness and impermeability may be used. When made of nylon taffeta fabric, the protective cape may be Washed in soap and cold water to maintain it clean and sanitary. I prefer to make the panel of light, smooth material which is impervious to water, oil or the falling particles of cut hair, so that the hair'or other particles either slide by gravity or may be readily brushed into the respective pockets 25 and 27.

While I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that various changes may be made without departing from my invention. Y

I claim:

- 1. A protective cape, comprising a panel of flexible sheet material having two opposite substantially parallel extending straight front and rear edges, each edge being divided lengthwise 'into two portions, two opposite side edges extending between said front and rear edges, each side edge being divided into two sections extending angularly outward from said front and rear edges, respectively, and meeting at an apex, said panel being provided with a neck opening and a slot extending from said neck opening to one of said side edges, first and second sets of complementary fastener elements disposed along said front and rear edge portions, respectively, and means for securing together'the sides of said slot, said front "edge portions being adapted to be overlapped and fastened together by said first set of complementary fastener elements, said rear edge portions being adapted to be overlapped and fastened together by said second set of complementary fastener elements, said side edges being adapted to be folded to form opposite upstanding walls when said front and rear edge portions are fastened together, whereby said panel is adapted to be placed around the neck and over the shouldersof a wearer, and when so placed to provide front and rear pockets depending from said neck opening. e

2. A protective cape, comprising a panel of flexible sheet material having two opposite substantially parallel extending straight front and rear edges, each edge being divided lengthwise into two portions adapted to be overlapped and secured together, two opposite outwardly curved side edges extending between said front and rear edges, said panel being provided with a neck opening and a slot extending from said neck opening to one of said side edges, means for securing together the sides of said slot, and means for securing together said front and rear edge portions when overlapped, said side edges being adapted to be folded to form opposite upstanding walls when said front and rear edge portions are secured together, whereby said panel is adapted to be placed around the neck and over the shoulders of a wearer, and when 6 so placed to provide that and rear pockets depending from said neck opening.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 608,351 Terramorse Aug. 2, 1898 1,261,575 McLeod Apr. 2, 1918 1,488,444 Shea Mar. 25, 1924 1,516,590 Dorsey Nov. 25, 192A 2,046,350 Victorius July 7, 1936 2,080,176 Laib May 11, 1937 2,442,105 Vacheron May 25, 1948 2,744,252 Cansler May 8. 1956 

